Whirlwind Auction--Part 2

If you want to get a good laugh at the history of our auction experience, please read my October 23, 2012 blogpost entitled "Whirlwind Auction." 

And this week we had the Part 2 experience. Are we more experienced, you ask? Nay! It is still all a big puzzle to the both of us. 

Here is the latest episode (insinuating we anticipate more):

In a few weeks time we plan to make a few improvements in the Beltway Apartment on the "other side of the big Pond." As the old floor covering will be replaced by hardwood floors, we started thinking about how much like a ballroom the combined large living and dining room would look. To break up the space, a nice rug (vloerkleed or tapijt in Dutch) would at least distinguish one area from the other. Without really planning to buy anything, we checked out the After Sale for the auction house we visited a year ago. My hub noticed online that there was still a locally made (Smyrna) handmade carpet in great Dutch colors for an interesting price. 

Here is a photo of the rug:

As the recommended price was 400-600 Euros, we decided to make a 200 Euro bid over the Internet with the stipulation that if we got the deal at that price, we could not collect the tapijt until almost mid October. By midnight that night we had been notified by e-mail that there would be no problem with picking it up in October, but that our bid was way too low. The auctioneer said he was expecting around 360 Euros, but we could buy it for 300.

Neither of us was really surprised with the deal that he offered, but being the skinflints we both are and only having found out this development when we got up the next morning, we did not react to the news immediately. My hub and I did finally discuss that we wanted the piece of local heritage even at 300 euros, and my hub sat down at the computer later that day to make the deal. What did he find in his e-mail inbox? An e-mail message from the auctioneer stating that his client selling the carpet had agreed on the 200 Euro bid.

Whaaat? All we did was stall. And not even consciously. 

So now we have a large rug for the Beltway Apartment floor at a very, very reasonable price. All we know about it is what we can see in the above photo. Some wear and probably needs some cleaning. 

But somehow we muddled through another auction buy. 

We are getting pretty good at this auction buying, I must say.  ;))